From "Biographical Memoirs of Wells County, Indiana"

While in old England they boast of their ancestry back for twenty
generations or more and in New England they lay claim to more than half as
many, here in the west if we can look back upon our family tree a hundred
years and see nothing to be ashamed of, we are liable to strut a little and
feel some semblance of the aristocratic thrill that is supposed to bespeak the
blue blood of nobility. There are many in the west possessed of such a family
tree. Some it impells to put on airs and affect superiority. Others view it
in the purely American sense, that a manÂ’s worth is neither increased or
diminished by what those who preceded him have or have not been. Of the
latter class is the Clark family of Wells and Huntington counties, one of whom
is the subject of this sketch, Rufus B. Clark, of Liberty township, Wells
county, Indiana. He has a family of which he might boast, but he is too much
interested in the affairs of his own life to waste time with such foolishness.

He is a young man, but a very successful one. He was born in the township
where he now resides January 9, 1874, and, though only in his twenty-ninth
year, is as capable and thorough a business man as one can encounter.
The paternal grandparents of Rufus B. Clark were Sargeant and Eunice
(Irwin) Clark, natives of North Carolina, who came in the winter of 1838-9
from their native state to Huntington county, Indiana, traveling the entire
distance in a wagon. They entered a tract of eighty acres of government land
in Salamonie township, and here built a home, cleared the land and reared
their family. They were the parents of eight children, viz: Martha J.,
deceased; John I., who was the father of Rufus B., the subject; Rachael, wife
of John Radcliff, of Newark, Ohio; Roscoe L., a resident of Huntington county,
Indiana, residing on part of the old homestead; Landona, wife of Amos L. Carl,
of Beamer, Indiana; Hannah, Lewis and Jasper. Of all the early inhabitants of
Huntington county, none are remembered with kindlier feelings than Sargeant
and Eunice Clark. They were naturally unselfish, kind and generous, and to
those gifts they added a benevolence and hospitality that is popularly
supposed to be peculiarly prevalent in the south. They spent nearly as much
time caring for neighbors in need as they did in looking after their own
affairs, yet did not slight or neglect the latter. Mr. Clark helped to build
roads, bridged, churches and school houses, never exacting renumeration for
his services; indeed, he would [have] felt offended if asked what his charge
was. His good wife was constantly, in her motherly way, on some errand of
mercy or charity.

The maternal grandparents of Rufus B. Clark were George and Nancy
(Hampton) Helm. They were natives of Tennessee, but came from that state, by
wagon, in 1838, to Huntington county, Indiana, and settled on the bank of the
Salamonie river about two miles below Warren. The most numerous inhabitants
of the county at that time were Indians. There, in the depths of the
wilderness, June 6, 1846, Nancy Helm, the mother of Rufus B. Clark, was born.
Her birth place is now in the township of Jefferson. In the early days of
the settlement the people were obliged to go to Preble county, Ohio, for
supplies. It was a long, tedious journey, through the trackless woods. The
round trip frequently required weeks in accomplishment, especially during
inclement weather or when the streams were swollen. On one such trip the
husband and father, George Helm, was away six weeks and his intrepid little
wife with here three small children remained alone in the cabin, during the
day in the mortal dread of the red savages with whom the woods were peopled,
and at night almost equally in fear of the wild beasts of the forest. Mr.
Helm cleared and improved this land and made it his home up to the time of his
death. George and Nancy Helm were the parents of eight children, viz:
Lorinda, widow of James Gill; John A. Died on the old home place; William is a
resident of Huntington, Indiana; Nancy, wife of John I. Clark; Sarah was the
wife of Jacob Irwin, but is now deceased; Jane died at the age of sixteen
years; David at the age of seventeen and James died when he was but two years
old. The parents were among the most enterprising, public spirited and
prosperous of the early settlers. Nancy Helm died at the home of her
daughter, Mrs. John I. Clark, in the fall of 1874.

John I. Clark, father of the subject, grew to manhood on his fatherÂ’s
farm in Salamonie township, attended the public schools and received a fair
common school education. He worked by the day, week or job until he was
twenty-three years of age, when he rented the farm of George Helm, making his
home in the Helm family. For five years he continued on this farm, and was
united in marriage to Miss Nancy Helm, a daughter of the family in which he
had been boarding. He then purchased eighty acres of land in Liberty
township, Wells county, Indiana, which was then unimproved, but now forms part
of the farm owned by him and on which he still resides. The size of this farm
has been constantly increased by purchase until it now comprises three hundred
and twenty acres. It is well fenced, ditched and otherwise improved. In 1882
Mr. Clark built a barn, forty by eighty feet, which was added to in 1896 and
it is now one hundred and five feet in length. In 1886 he erected a model
home, large, commodious, well finished and handsomely furnished, among the
best in the entire county, while the other buildings on the farm correspond
well with those mentioned. John I. And Nancy Clark are the parents of four
children, viz: Viola P., wife of Albert Minniear, a resident of Liberty
township; Rufus B. Is the subject; Garnet E., wife of John C. Smith, a
resident of Huntington; Lester E., the youngest of the family, is still
unmarried and resides with his parents. In September, 1901, John I. Clark,
the father of this family, was stricken with paralysis and has been helpless
ever since. His good wife and youngest son, Lester, accord him every care and
make him as comfortable and cheerful as possible in his affliction. Though
still only a youth, Lester is much interested in the work of the farm and in
the breeding and feeding ob blooded stock. He is attending the graded school
at Liberty Center and will finish the course this year. Both parents have
been members of the Methodist Protestant church a number of years, at Beamer.
During his entire career John I. Clark has been strictly a temperance man and
was ever ready to advance the work of churches and schools in the interest of
morality, religion and learning. In politics he was always a stanch Democrat,
as was his father before him. Like the wise and provident man that he is, he
has made ample provision for his children, as after laying aside a farm of one
hundred and eight-five acres for his faithful wife, each of their children
will be presented with a tract of forty acres.

Rufus B. Clark attended the public schools of his native township until
he was twenty years of age. He then, in connection with Albert Minniear, his
brother-in-law, began the cultivation of his fatherÂ’s farm, receiving for
their services a share of the crop and for four years they continued thus,
steadily prospering. On the 4th day of December, 1898, Rufus B. Clark was
united in marriage to Miss Zora A. Burman, a lady of intelligence and
refinement, born in Franklin county, Ohio, October 4, 1874. She is a daughter
of George W. and Lydia (Trimmer) Burman, natives of Ohio. The parents of
George were Daniel and Harriett Burman. George was twice married, his first
wife being Sallie Hempy, who accompanied him to Indiana when he emigrated from
Ohio. Two children were born to them, both of whom are now dead, as also is
the mother. His second wife was Lydia A. Trimmer, a native of Ohio, where
they were married and where they resided a number of years, when he returned
with his wife to Huntington county, locating near Pleasant Plain. Both are
still living, residents of Warren county, Indiana. Her parents were John and
Sarah (Stumbaugh) Trimmer, natives of Pennsylvania, who moved to Fairfield
county, Ohio, in the early ‘forties. There they resided until the death of
Mrs. Trimmer, when her husband came to Huntington county, Indiana, and made
his home with his daughter, Mrs. Lydia A. Burman until his death, which
occurred January 1, 1892. To this marriage two children were born, viz: Etta,
wife of Elsie Thompson, of Liberty township, and Zora A., wife of Rufus B.
Clark.

The place owned by Rufus B. Clark is known as the Hickory Grove Stock
Farm. About the time of his marriage he erected a fine residence upon the
place and in 1899 built a barn thirty-six by fifty-six feet, in 1892,
increasing its size to fifty-four by fifty-six feet. He has cleared, fenced,
ditched and otherwise improved the land until it is today one of the best kept
farms in the county. The finest well in that locality in\\s on the premises,
always supplied with abundance of pure healthful water for man or beast. He
has also a large orchard of fine, thrifty young trees of all kinds. He breeds
the Ohio Improved Chester hogs, Hereford cattle and a general class of sheep,
most of the cattle being thoroughbreds. He carries on general farming and
always aims to feed more grain than he raises on the premises, not that he
wants to raise less grain, but that he aims to feed more stock. He is the
owner of stock and other personal property that will easily reach in value two
thousand dollars.

To Mr. and Mrs Rufus B. Clark two children have been born, viz: Hazel
F., born February 26, 1900, and Howard Russell, born August 14, 1902. The
parents are members of the Methodist Protestant church of Beamer, having
united with that denomination in May, 1902. He is a member of Lodge No. 747,
I. O. O. F., at Liberty Center, and in politics is a Democrat, active and
zealous in all campaigns. There are few men in the country of whom it can be
truthfully be said they never drank intoxicating liquor, chewed tobacco,
smoked, played cards or indulged in any species of gambling. That statement,
however, can truthfully be made regarding the subject of this sketch, Rufus B.
Clark. He is a moral, model, manly man. If men of his kind were more
numerous this country and this world would be greatly improved.

Reposting to reformat and include page numbers.

Biographical Memoirs of Wells County, Indiana, 1903. pp. 380-383.

RUFUS B. CLARK.

While in old England they boast of their ancestry back for twenty generations or more and in New England they lay claim to more than half as many, here in the west if we can look back upon our family tree a hundred years and see nothing to be ashamed of, we are liable to strut a little and feel some semblance of the aristocratic thrill that is supposed to bespeak the blue blood of nobility. There are many in the west possessed of such a family tree. Some it impells to put on airs and affect superiority. Others view it in the purely American sense, that a man's worth is neither increased or diminished by what those who preceded him have or have not been. Of the latter class is the Clark family of Wells and Huntington counties, one of whom is the subject of this sketch, Rufus B. Clark, of Liberty township, Wells county, Indiana. He has a family of which he might boast, but he is too much interested in the affairs of his own life to waste time with such foolishness. He is a young man, but a very successful one. He was born in the township where he now resides January 9, 1874, and, though only in his twenty-ninth year, is as capable and thorough a business man as one can encounter.

The paternal grandparents of Rufus B. Clark were Sargeant and Eunice (Irwin) Clark, natives of North Carolina, who came in the winter of 1838-9 from their native state to Huntington county, Indiana, traveling the entire distance in a wagon. They entered a tract of eighty acres of government land in Salamonie township, and here built a home, cleared the land and reared their family. They were the parents of eight children, viz: Martha J., deceased; John I., who was the father of Rufus R., the subject; Rachael, wife of John Radcliff, of Newark, Ohio; Roscoe L., a resident of Huntington county, Indiana, residing on part of the old homestead; Landona, wife of Amos L. Carl, of Beamer, Indiana; Hannah, Lewis and Jasper. Of all the early inhabitants of Huntington county, none are remembered with kindlier feelings than Sargeant and Eunice Clark. They were naturally unselfish, kind and generous, and to those gifts they added a benevolence and hospitality that is popularly supposed to be peculiarly prevalent in the south. They spent nearly as much time caring for neighbors in need as they did in looking after their own affairs, yet did not slight or neglect the latter. Mr. Clark helped to build roads, bridges, churches and school houses, never exacting renumeration [sic] for his services; indeed, he would felt offended if asked what his charge was. His good wife was constantly, in her motherly way, on some errand of mercy or charity.

The maternal grandparents of Rufus B. Clark were George and Nancy (Hampton) Helm. They were natives of Tennessee, but came from that state, by wagon, in 1838, to Huntington county, Indiana, and settled on the bank of the Salamonie river about two miles below Warren. The most numerous inhabitants of the county at that time were Indians. There, in the depths of the wilderness, June 6, 1846, Nancy Helm, the mother of Rufus B. Clark, was born. Her birth place is now in the township of Jefferson. In the early days of the settlement the people were obliged to go to Preble county, Ohio, for supplies. It was a long, tedious journey, through the trackless woods. The round trip frequently required weeks in accomplishment, especially during inclement weather or when the streams were swollen. On one such trip the husband and father, George Helm, was away six weeks and his intrepid little wife with her three small children remained alone in the cabin, during the day in the mortal dread of the red savages with whom the woods were peopled, and at night almost equally in fear of the wild beasts of the forest. Mr. Helm cleared and improved this land and made it his home up to the time of his death. George and Nancy Helm were the parents of eight children, viz: Lorinda, widow of James Gill; John A. died on the old homeplace; William is a resident of Huntington, Indiana; Nancy, wife of John I. Clark; Sarah was the wife of Jacob Irwin, but is now deceased; Jane died at the age of sixteen years; David at the age of seventeen and James died when he was but two years old. The parents were among the most enterprising, public spirited and prosperous of the early settlers. Nancy Helm died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. John I. Clark, in the fall of 1874.

John I. Clark, father of the subject, grew to manhood on his father's farm in Salamonie township, attended the public schools and received a fair common school education. He worked by the day, week or job until he was twenty-three years of age, when he rented the farm of George Helm, making his home in the Helm family. For five years he continued on this farm, and was united in marriage to Miss Nancy Helm, a daughter of the family in which he had been boarding. He then purchased eighty acres of land in Liberty township, Wells county, Indiana, which was then unimproved, but now forms part of the farm owned by him and on which he still resides. The size of this farm has been constantly increased by purchase until it now comprises three hundred and twenty acres. It is well fenced, ditched and otherwise improved. In 1882 Mr. Clark built a barn, forty by eighty feet, which was added to in 1896 and it is now one hundred and five feet in length. In 1886 he erected a model home, large, commodious, well finished and handsomely furnished, among the best in the entire county, while the other buildings on the farm correspond well with those mentioned. John I. and Nancy Clark are the parents of four children, viz: Viola P., wife of Albert Minniear, a resident of Liberty township; Rufus B. is the subject; Garnet E., wife of John C. Smith, a resident of Huntington; Lester E., the youngest of the family, is still unmarried and resides with his parents. In September, 1901, John I. Clark, the father of this family, was stricken with paralysis and has been helpless ever since. His good wife and youngest son, Lester, accord him every care and make him as comfortable and cheerful as possible in his addiction. Though still only a youth, Lester is much interested in the work of the farm and in the breeding and feeding of blooded stock. He is attending the graded school at Liberty Center and will finish the course this year. Both parents have been members of the Methodist Protestant church a number of years, at Beamer. During his entire career John I. Clark has been strictly a temperance man and was ever ready to advance the work of churches and schools in the interest of morality, religion and learning. In politics he was always a stanch Democrat, as was his father before him. Like the wise and provident man that he is, he has made ample provision for his children, as after laying aside a farm of one hundred and eighty-five acres for his faithful wife, each of their children will be presented with a tract of forty acres.

Rufus B. Clark attended the public schools of his native township until he was twenty years of age. He then, in connection with Albert Minniear, his brother-in-law, began the cultivation of his father's farm receiving for their services a share of the crop and for four years they continued thus, steadily prospering. On the 4th day of December, 1898, Rufus B. Clark was united in marriage to Miss Zora A. Burman, a lady of intelligence and refinement, born in Franklin county, Ohio, October 4, 1874 She is a daughter of George W. and Lydia (Trimmer) Burman, natives of Ohio. The parents of George were Daniel and Harriett Burman. George was twice married, his first wife being Sallie Hempy, who accompanied him to Indiana when he emigrated from Ohio. Two children were born to them, both of whom are now dead, as also is the mother. His second wife was Lydia A. Trimmer, a native of Ohio, where they were married and where they resided a number of years, when he returned with his wife to Huntington county, locating near Pleasant Plain. Both are still living, residents of Warren county, Indiana. Her parents were John and Sarah (Stumbaugh) Trimmer, natives of Pennsylvania, who moved to Fairfield county, Ohio, in the early 'forties. There they resided until the death of Mrs. Trimmer, when her husband came to Huntington county, Indiana, and made his home with his daughter, Mrs. Lydia A. Burman until his death, which occurred January 1, 1892. To this marriage two children were born, viz: Etta, wife of Elsie Thompson, of Liberty township, and Zora A., wife of Rufus B. Clark.

The place owned by Rufus B. Clark is known as the Hickory Grove Stock Farm. About the time of his marriage he erected a fine residence upon the place and in 1899 built a barn thirty-six by fifty-six feet, in 1892, increasing its size to fifty-four by fifty-six feet. He has cleared, fenced, ditched and otherwise improved the land until it is today one of the best kept farms in the county. The finest well in that locality is on the premises, always supplied with abundance of pure healthful water for man or beast. He has also a large orchard of fine, thrifty young trees of all kinds. He breeds the Ohio Improved Chester hogs, Hereford cattle and a general class of sheep, most of the cattle being thoroughbreds. He carries on general farming and always aims to feed more grain than he raises on the premises, not that he wants to raise less grain, but that he aims to feed more stock. He is the owner of stock and other personal property that will easily reach in value two thousand dollars.

To Mr. and Mrs. Rufus B. Clark two children have been born, viz: Hazel F., born February 26, 1900, and Howard Russell, born August 14, 1902. The parents are members of the Methodist Protestant church of Beamer, having united with that denomination in May, 1902. He is a member of Lodge No. 747, I. O. O. F., at Liberty Center, and in politics is a Democrat, active and zealous in all campaigns. There are few men in this country of whom it can truthfully be said they never drank intoxicating liquor, chewed tobacco, smoked, played cards or indulged in any species of gambling. That statement, however, can truthfully be made regarding the subject of this sketch, Rufus B. Clark. He is a moral, model, manly man. If men of his kind were more numerous this country and this world would be greatly improved.